Addressing renal patients’ needs

RC Pune Central, RID 3131, has a tradition of creating medical infrastructure in Pune and has implemented multiple projects in eye care, cancer care and health awareness, where facilities are inadequate and expensive for the poor and needy, says Lekha Nair, the club’s joint secretary and PR director.

In keeping with this tradition, the club installed six dialysis machines at the KEM Hospital in February through a global grant funded from the CSR contribution of Arya Omnitalk Wireless Solutions. The project cost ₹45,29,000 ($64,700). Two of these machines were installed at the hospital’s paediatric dialysis ward to address kidney failure in children. “The waiting time for dialysis for renal patients has greatly reduced and the charges are subsidised for the poor,” says Lekha.

More recently the club installed a dialysis ward at the Surya Sahyadri Hospital, which had a renal department but was diverting patients elsewhere for dialysis, through another global grant involving RC New City, RID 7210, US, and TRF. The facility, costing ₹95 lakh ($131,500), includes 13 dialysis machines, a washer and a bicarbonate mixer, and can serve 45 patients a day.

Since the hospital is ­empanelled under the medical insurance schemes of the state and central government, dialysis is offered free for the poor here, she says.